- Archive for February, 2011 -

A break from perogies; let’s try some crepes! Also known as nalesniki (pron. nah-lesh-nee-kee), we usually eat them as a second course (soup is always first!). And usually eaten with a sweet filling such as plum butter, dry cottage cheese mixed with plain yogurt and vanilla, as well as homemade apple butter. I use my Dad’s recipe for his crepe batter; he is the crepe king! They always turn out even in thickness and size and are light and oh so tasty! I tweaked an apple filling as well as added some much needed cocoa to a plum filling; chocolate and plums are a common sweet delicacy combo in Poland.

I don’t own a crepe pan right now so I use my large non-stick pan to make large crepes, or I use my smaller pan to make smaller crepes. Crepe pans vary in price and sizes.

Crepe Recipe (makes 6-8 large crepes if a larger 12″ pan is used; approx. 12 smaller crepes if a small 8″ pan is used)

1 cup of milk

3/4 cups of all-purpose flour ( I have not tried using quinoa flour but I think it would fit very well in a crepe recipe; has anyone out there tried this?)

1 whole egg

1 tsp of vanilla

pinch of salt

1/2 tsp of baking soda

2 tsp cane sugar

1 tbsp vegetable oil or melted butter, + 1/4 cup of oil on the side to grease the pan in between each crepe to prevent the crepe from being too dry as it cooks

Method

Whisk all ingredients together adding the milk and flour in smaller batches at a time to make sure the consistency achieved is just slightly runnier than that of pancake batter.

Heat a non-stick pan with vegetable oil.

Holding the handle of the hot pan in one hand, use a ladle to pour a 3/4 ladle-full amount of batter onto the pan, swirling the pan so as to cover the surface with the batter, making a large full circle.

Once bubbles start to appear ( approx. 2 minutes), gently flip the crepe over and cook another minute or so, until both sides have browned lightly.

Ready to fill!

As you remove each crepe from the pan, place on a towel paper on a plate to absorb extra oil.

Once cooled, spread your desired filling across the entire surface and roll the crepe or fold in half twice to achieve a triangle of goodness! Dust with icing sugar if you like.

Rolled crepe with apple-cranberry filling

Fillings

Apple Cranberry

2 peeled and finely diced apples

2 tbsp. of butter

1/2 tsp ground cloves

1 cinnamon stick

1/4 cup maple syrup

1/4 cup orange juice

1/4 cup water

1 1/2 cups of fresh or frozen cranberries

1 tsp orange zest

Method

Melt butter over medium-low heat, watching closely to get butter to brown, which will add great flavour.

butter browned

Once the butter has browned (approx. 3 minutes), add diced apples and cook on medium-low heat for another 3 minutes, until apples are mushy.

Add remaining ingredients and cook until cranberries have popped. Then let simmer over low heat for another 10 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Once cooled, spread over crepe.

2. Chocolate plum filling*

1 cup of pitted prunes

1 cup of figs

1 tsp ground cinnamon

1 tsp vanilla

1/2 cup of cocoa powder

Put the prunes and the figs in a medium saucepan and pour enough water to just cover them; cook covered on medium heat until the dried fruit are soft, approx. 3 minutes. Drain water.

Add the fruit and remainder of ingredients into a processor and blend until all mixed.

* I adapted this recipe from “Health by Chocolate” by Victoria Laine, a book I received from a dear friend. This filling is sweet enough for me with just the prunes and figs so I left out honey or any other sweetener. I really really really like this recipe – my new homemade healthier version of Nutella!